Mass Effect 3: A Decade Later
by Darthvader1002
Summary: 10 Years after the war with the Reapers, Tali and Shepard are living their life on Rannoch whilst dealing with post traumatic stress. Based upon my Shepard and his choices/Failures, Wrex is dead, Ashley is alive, destroy ending, Quarians and Geth saved. All Characters and locations are property of Bioware.


**Mass Effect 3: A Decade Later**

Tali stood, watching the sun set over the southern ocean of Rannoch. It had been 10 years since the war with the Reapers, the Mass Relays were rebuilt and Home-worlds clear of any Remnants of battle. Tali glanced down at the clothes she was wearing, she still hadn't gotten used to life outside her Environmental Suit. A result of Shepard's amazing way with words, he had managed to broker peace between the Quarians and the Geth, the Geth accomplished in weeks what would have taken the Quarians years.

The Geth even uploaded into the Quarians suits to jump start the Quarians immune system. Tali was unsure of having a Geth playing with her immune system but she eventually gave in and allowed a Geth program into her suits computer. Tali turned back towards her house and marveled at how it looked in the orange glow of the setting sun. She had lived here for eight years, it was built on the site where a decade earlier, Commander Shepard, against all odds defeated a Reaper and secured the survival of both the Quarians and the Geth. As she stood there catching the last of the sun's rays that warmed her pale skin she glanced towards the doorway and caught sight of Shepard smiling warmly at her.

Ten years ago on Earth during the Reaper war, Shepard, Tali and Garrus along with Admiral Anderson and 50 alliance soldiers rushed towards the Beam that would transport them to the Citadel that was positioned above Earth. Only three people would return. As Shepard sprinted forward towards the Beam, Tali and Garrus followed closely but not closely enough, a Reaper energy beam hit the M-35 Mako in front of Shepard, stopping abruptly and using the wreck as cover Shepard glanced back to see the Mako next to Tali and Garrus explode. Shepard's heart skipped a beat as he frantically looked through the thick black smoke for any sign of them, for any sign of Tali.

To Shepard's relief, Tali, supported by Garrus stumbled out of the smoke and made their way to Shepard, both were caked in blood, Garrus coughed and yelled "She's hurt bad!". Shepard glanced towards Tali's abdomen where a huge gash in her side, it had punctured her suit and pale blue blood was gushing from the wound.  
"Normandy! I need an evac!" Shepard yelled into his Headpiece "Now!"  
As the Normandy glided over to them the cargo bay doors opened and Shepard help Garrus carry Tali onto the Cargo ramp.  
"Shepard, don't leave me behind" Tali sobbed  
"I need you to make out of here alive Tali" Replied Shepard "Go to Rannoch, build yourself a home"  
"I have a home" Cried Tali.  
Shepard looked to Garrus  
"Go!" he yelled.  
As Shepard turned and ran as fast as he could towards the Beam Garrus supported Tali to the elevator but instead of going to the Medical lab tali stumbled out of Garrus' grip and half ran half limped to the Port Observation Deck where she collapsed against the glass and looked down at Shepard's rapidly obscuring shape as the Normandy fled the battle. Just as Shepard's form was almost out of sight Tali saw a Reaper Beam hit Shepard.  
"SHEPARD!" she screamed as she slammed her fist against the glass splattering blood on its cool surface. She collapsed into a fit of sobs as Garrus helped her up. The only man she ever loved was gone, no she thought, he can't be dead he can't be. Doctor Chakwas patched her up and gave her some antibiotics then tended to Garrus' wounds.  
"Shepard's... Shepard's dead" Garrus told Chakwas  
"No he isn't dead, he can't be" sobbed Tali, she stood up and walked over to the bridge where Joker was frantically maneuvering the Normandy around ships engaged in a fierce space battle. A message came over the comm stating that someone had made it to the Beam  
"Shepard!" said Tali with a glimmer of hope. A few moments later the Citadels arms began to open and Admiral Hackett docked the Crucible. Everyone's breaths held in mid-air as they waited for something to happen, a few minutes later, Hackett advised the Normandy that he had lost contact with Shepard.  
"I knew he made it!" exclaimed Tali. Suddenly the Crucible glowed red and a message came over the comm saying for all fleets to retreat.

Joker replied with "No Shepard's still on that thing we have to get him out!"  
Liara and Javik told Joker that they had to leave,  
"Dammit" said Joker sadly as he set a course for the Sol Relay,  
"What! No we have to save Shepard" Tali cried out,  
throwing herself at the control console and landing on Jokers arm, snapping it, James ran over and held Tali back as they entered the Relay.  
Tali fell, sobbing, to the floor.  
A sphere of red energy surged from the crucible, as the Citadel discharged its energy toward the Sol Relay which in turn, over loaded and discharged its energy in the same way the crucible and the Citadel did, across the galaxy as relays exploded the resulting energy waves decimated the Reaper forces, turning husks to ash and deactivating the Reapers. Any active synthetic live would be affected by the energy. As the Normandy fled from the Sol system the ships on-board computers began to malfunction, EDI ran a quick analysis and shut down in order to preserve herself, she was set to restart as soon as the Normandy's power was restored, before she shutdown she sent a message to the Geth to do the same in the hopes they could be preserved. As the Normandy's drive core malfunctioned due to EDI suddenly going offline and the Beam of energy that the Sol Relay had fired was catching up. Joker frantically tried to regain control of the ship as it exited FTL over an unknown planet.

Tali snapped out of her flashback and looked over at Shepard, still standing in the doorway, Tali noticed a tear had trickled down her cheek, Shepard picked up on this and strolled over  
"what's wrong" he asked,  
"the night you destroyed the Reapers" replied Tali, Shepard's concerned smile dropped instantly  
"oh" he said.  
"I really thought you were dead" said Tali sadly.  
"I wish I could remember what happened" said Shepard  
"All I remember is going into the beam, killing the illusive man then passing out in front of the console."  
"I'm glad they found you" said Tali, a tear in her eye as she remembered how she felt when she saw the Citadel breaking up.

Two days after the war had been won, Admiral Hackett sent a Team into the Citadel to look for Shepard's and Admiral Anderson's bodies. They only found Anderson's. A few hours later a ground team on Earth was searching a pile of rubble for any survivors when their Infra-red scanners picked up a heat signature. They found a body too badly burnt to be recognizable but the N7 dog tags read Commander Shepard, he was still breathing. How Shepard survived a fall from space and re-entry is a mystery, however, Commander Shepard was transported to a Medical Cruiser and was given top Priority.

After six hours of Surgery and a great amount of Cybernetics Shepard was in a stable condition. Admiral Hackett ordered a message be sent to the crew of the Normandy informing them of Shepard but the Normandy didn't respond and with the fleets in complete dis-array as well as the destroyed Mass Relays no one knew the location of the Normandy. As the weeks passed and Shepard's burns healed he slipped in and out of consciousness, partly in fact to the heavy sedatives and pain meds.

A research team sent to retrieve anything valuable from the Reaper corpses came back with data-banks, on study it was revealed to tell how Mass Relay's worked and using this knowledge the Sol Relay was reactivated. As the last of the fleets left the Sol system a single ship was detected coming out of FTL, it was the Normandy, as it docked Hackett went down to the airlock to tell the crew about Shepard in person, when the airlock opened Hackett rushed inside. "Shepard's alive!" he yelled as soon as he stepped foot on the CIC.  
"What? Where is he?" screamed Joker  
"is he alright?"  
"In the Med Ward" replied Hackett  
"He's..." He was interrupted by Joker yelling into the intercom for everyone to go to report to the CIC. Everyone was down on the crew deck.

Ashley downed a glass of Whiskey; they had to resort to the bar for most of their drinks as their water supply had run out,  
"what can that son of a bitch be so delighted about" groaned Ashley with huff.  
"I don't know, but we better get up there" replied James.  
Despite the war being won the crew of the Normandy were grieving the loss of Shepard, they clearly had not received Hackett's message, Garrus said he would go get Tali who, grief stricken, shut herself in Shepard's quarters, barely slept or ate, only leaving to repair the engines when necessary.  
"Tali?" called Garrus.  
Tali was lying on her side on the bed, she had gripped the bedding into a tight ball in her fist.  
"Tali, c'mon we've docked. We're safe." said Garrus.  
Tali sat up and pushed herself off the bed and stood up, as she walked towards the elevator Garrus noticed the water streaks on the inside of her visor, it was evident she had been crying, allot as she slowly made her way to the elevator her feet pushed aside bottles of Turian Brandy, the only drink she and Garrus could have due to their Dextro-DNA.  
As everyone gathered into the CIC, Joker was twiddling his fingers with anticipation, he couldn't wait to tell everyone, he wanted everyone present, and EDI who had been re-activated noticed this and whispered to him  
"may I inquire why you are so excited?"  
"You'll see" he answered.  
When everyone was present Joker said "Everyone, I have great news!"  
'Hmm' Tali thought, what could possibly be great.  
"Tali" Joker said,  
'oh great he's going to try to cheer me up like the last thousand times' Tali thought,  
she raised her head slightly 'nothing will be able to pull from me this... this... Chasm of sorrow' she thought,  
Shepard had been the only one who brought joy to her life, the only one able to make her feel the she did when he looked at her. "  
Shepard is still alive" Joker announced.

All sound in the room drained out, to Tali everyone was just moving their mouths, all she could comprehend was "Shepard" and "still alive".  
She stood up abruptly from her slumped position on the chair Specialist Trainor had gotten her, everyone was clapping and hugging and screaming with joy, others just stood in shock, Tali stood trying to comprehend the situation, the seconds felt like hours as she pieced together the facts, he was still alive, he had to be somewhere nearby, she expected him to stroll out of the airlock and smile at her. She was shaken back to reality by Liara saying her name  
"Tali? Are you ok?" asked Liara looking worried,  
"where is he..." Tali barely whispered,  
"What was that?" replied Liara  
"Shepard, where is he..." Tali said louder this time, still shocked by the news,  
"Med-Bay, ward seven" said Admiral Hackett,  
Tali stumbled into a run nearly knocking over Joker as she sprinted for the airlock and onto the Medical Cruiser followed closely by Garrus and the rest of the crew. Tali knocked over several scientists whilst she sprinted through the ship, her heart racing as she dodged a scientist carrying a tray of medicine, "Shepard!" she called out.  
As she approached Ward seven a smile crept across her face, as she reached the door, a surprised doctor leapt out of the way. As soon as she entered the room she glanced over towards the bed where Shepard was lying, he had a few scars and bandages other than that he looked fine, Tali walked over to him, tears of joy running down her cheeks, though no one could tell because of her visor. She sat in the chair next to his bed and ran her finger down his cheek, he gently smiled which caused Tali to go into a fit of sobs as she placed her head in the crook of his neck and hugged him tightly, Garrus and Liara were the first to catch up, never had they seen Tali run so fast, Liara smiled as she and Garrus observed Tali gripping Shepard tightly and Shepard's smiling as his head slowly turned to rest against hers, Javik, James and Ashley were the next to arrive, all except Ashley smiled as they saw the pair embrace each other. Ashley had a fling with the Commander on their mission to stop Saren, when she re-joined the crew of the Normandy she learnt that Tali and Shepard and consummated a relationship. Ever since, Shepard had been rather blank towards her, was it because she doubted him whilst he worked with Cerberus to take down the Collector's?

When Shepard found her on Horizon she was angry at him for joining Cerberus and turned her back on him, she regretted this dearly, Shepard had been dead for two years, he died a respected Hero, when he came back everyone rejected him for working with Cerberus, he should have been able to count on her, instead she broke his heart walked away. Ashley left the room as Joker and EDI walked in, Joker hobbled into the Ward, slowed by his brittle bones, EDI helped him as best she could. Tali had stopped sobbing now, but her eyes still produced tears. As she lay there next to Shepard she felt herself falling asleep, she hadn't slept in days, and she closed her eyes and fell asleep at Shepard's side.

Commander Shepard opened his eyes, the bright room was disorienting, and as his vision focused he realized he was in a hospital ward. He looked around and saw Garrus fast asleep in a chair in the corner with a magazine over his face. He chuckled then clenched his ribs as a jolt of pain shot through them, then he heard something, he realized there was more pressure on his right arm than his left, as he looked to his right he saw the familiar purple, black and gold coloured suit that he had seen so often,  
"Tali" he whispered,  
she stirred, he smiled, she was gently snoring, he looked around to see if anyone else was in the room, just Tali and Garrus.  
Shepard gently kissed the top of Tali's head and tried to free his hand which had gone numb ,despite his best efforts Tali woke, stretching whilst she sat up, "Shepard" she said lovingly  
"Hey Tali" replied Shepard,  
the two exchanged a long hug, then sat facing each other staring into each other's eyes, Garrus' head lolled to one side letting the magazine fall to the floor, the sound brought Shepard and Tali out of the trance,  
"I'm so glad you made out alive" said Shepard,  
"I thought I lost you, I watched the Citadel explode as the crucible fired " said Tali  
"who fired it? "asked Shepard  
"Well... but... you did" said Tali, confused  
"I don't remember, I opened the Citadel's arms then black, next I wake up here" said Shepard  
"doesn't matter... your here..." Tali said as she began to remove her visor  
"and mine" she leaned in to kiss Shepard,  
Shepard leaned forward as far as his aching ribs would allow him, the kiss was simple but long, each closed their eyes enjoying every minute of it. When Tali finally pulled back Shepard opened his eyes and smiled at the pale face smiling back, Shepard looked into Tali's pale eyes, he admired the purple lines on her forehead and neck, the lines on her forehead went from her hairline pointing between her eyebrows, the lines on her neck led from the center then up and out, Shepard placed his hand on Tali's cheek, feeling her soft skin against his, Tali and Shepard stared at one another for what felt like an eternity. They had not realized Garrus had awoken and was standing at the foot of Shepard's bed. Garrus cleared his throat, Tali and Shepard spun around and looked at him, Tali made a strange 'eep' noise having been seen without her visor, she quickly put it back on  
"I hope I'm not intruding on the Tali-Shepard love nest" mused Garrus,  
he chuckled and walked around to Shepard's left side clasping a firm hand on his shoulder  
"how you feeling?" Garrus asked,  
"Like I got hit with a truck" Shepard joked  
"Well Hackett did say you fell from space" said Garrus  
"What?" exclaimed Shepard  
"how did I survive re-entry?"  
"That's the question on everyone's mind, pieces of metal from the Citadel were found around the location where they found you, they theorize that the metal somehow protected you from the heat and force of landing on Earth" Garrus explained,  
"wait when did Hackett tell you about this?" Tali asked  
"Few minutes after you passed out fast asleep in Shepard's arms" Garrus teased  
"You two look quite cute together" he said as he pulled a chair closer to Shepard's bed. Shepard wasn't sure but he thought he saw Tali blush under her visor.

"Hackett told me to tell you that as soon as you're feeling better Shepard, that you are getting a medal and being honorably dis-charged, unless you want to stay in the Alliance" Garrus said  
"I think I've had enough adventures to last a lifetime" Shepard replied,  
"Heh, can't imagine you in civilian life Shepard" Garrus joked "I bet you won't last a week without blowing something up"  
Shepard and Tali laughed at the thought, Liara walked in to check on Shepard  
"Shepard! I'm glad you're ok" said Liara, Garrus stood up to give Liara his seat  
"Don't bother Garrus, I won't be long, I have to return to Thessia in a few minutes" Liara said sadly  
"I have to help co-ordinate the Turian fleet anyways" Said Garrus  
"See you Shepard" Said Liara as she rushed off.  
"Stay safe you two" warned Garrus as he strolled out.  
Shepard stayed in the hospital for another week, he and Tali talked about what they could do seeing as how Shepard no longer was a part of the Alliance, we could build a home on Rannoch " said Tali  
"I know the perfect place" replied Shepard.

As Shepard shot back to the present Tali said "you had a flashback as well?"  
Shepard nodded. The Sun had set and the couple went inside. Shepard lay back on the sofa and Tali went over and sat on his lap putting her arms around him. He picked up a Data-pad and browsed the information, it had details on a new treatment that theoretically would allow inter species pregnancies, Shepard and Tali had volunteered for the procedure, they had to wait six months after the procedure before they should start trying, the procedure effectively involved taking stem cells from Shepard and stem cells from Tali then put together and bombarded with small amounts of Element Zero so they fused together, the combination was then injected into both Tali and Shepard, the cells should alter the other cells around it to be the same, though no physical change was noticeable, once all cells were converted to the combination of Human and Quarian bio-code, the doctor advised to start trying in a few months.  
After Shepard and Tali read through the data they settled down to watch a Holo-vid, Tali suggested Fleet and Flotilla, and as always Shepard agreed, he had seen the vid hundreds of times after he and Tali moved in together, after the vid, Tali went upstairs to bed and Shepard checked his Extra-net mail. James had sent through a message saying he had some shore leave in a weeks' time and asked if they could catch up on the Citadel. Shepard typed out a reply, sifted through his junk mail then followed Tali up to bed.

The following morning Shepard was awoken by a crash, it sounded like it was coming from the kitchen he raced downstairs and into the kitchen where he slipped on a puddle of water,  
"Shepard are ok!" asked Tali  
"Yeah I'm fine" said Shepard sitting up and rubbing the back of his head.  
"Sorry, I dropped a vase" said Tali  
"It was that nice one Liara gave me for my Birthday" she said looking at the fragments of what was left of the vase; it was of Prothean origin, Javik confirmed it. He had worked with Liara on occasion helping her identify Prothean artifacts. As Tali picked up the pieces of the vase Shepard moved the flowers that had previously occupied the vase to a glass of water. As Shepard picked up a cloth to mop up the water, Tali cut herself on one of the shards. It was a minor cut but deep enough to bleed, except her blood wasn't light blue, like a normal Quarians, it was a deep red. Tali studied the cut,  
"A side effect of the treatment?" She said  
"Maybe" he replied as he fetched some Medi-Gel and a bandage. He wished he had military grade Medi-Gel then he wouldn't have to bother with a bandage. "We'll call the doctor later" said Shepard.  
In the previous months they had found many side effects, Shepard could eat Dextro-DNA food and Tali could eat Levo-DNA food, something she always teased Garrus about as she would bite into Human chocolate, which was told to be much more delicious than Turian chocolate, Garrus wasn't willing to risk it though. Tali didn't have allergic reactions to Human diseases, instead she actually got the Disease, but it made it easier to identify and treat and it made her immune system stronger than before. There were lots of other more subtle side effects, mostly positive.  
Tali noticed she had some blood on her shirt so she went upstairs to change, Shepard made a cup of coffee and went and stood in their 'backyard' as he liked to call it, Tali just referred to it as outside. He glanced over to dark grey plate near the cliff side. It marked the names of those who died during the fight with the Reapers, the plate itself was cannibalized from the very Reaper Shepard had destroyed on that spot. Shepard turned and glanced back at the house. Built by Tali and himself, along with some help from their friends. James Vega and Steve Cortez helped lay foundations and erect walls and framework. Samara, Jack and Javik helped with the heavy lifting using Biotics. Tali installed the electrical systems. Ashley helped with internal decorating and Miranda helped set up security. Jacob Taylor took care of getting all the supplies needed. Garrus came up with the genius idea of installing an armory in the basement. Everything from Shepard's cabin minus the hamster and fish were moved into the basement.

Shepard's Armour sets were set up on Mannequins and the entire back wall was devoted to his vast selection of guns and other weaponry he'd picked up. A fish tank was installed in the living room for the fish and the hamster was moved into the main Bedroom. Tali, who had always liked Shepard's collection of model ships, convinced Shepard to have it installed in their bedroom. Liara had noticed that there was an extra space on the model rack. She had a model of her Shadow Broker headquarters made and gifted it to Tali. Grunt helped smash some boulders to clear way for a garden. Shepard and the team watched as Grunt charged through the thick stone yelling "I AM KROGAN!".

Shepard thought that the whole process would go twice as fast if Wrex were there. Wrex had been killed by Ashley on Virmire; Shepard tried to convince Wrex that the Krogan being bred in the facility were not 'true' Krogan being created by Saren. Wrex had thought that the facility held the cure to the Genophage, which explained how Saren would produce so many Krogan. Before Shepard could reason with Wrex, Ashley shot Wrex in the back; she then ran to the bleeding Krogan and proceeded to shoot him five more times.

Shepard glanced at Ashley who was leaning against the wall talking with Jack, Shepard scowled at her then returned to watching Grunt repeatedly bash his head against the largest of the rocks. What Shepard saw in that women that night before Ilos he didn't understand, maybe it was the stress? He thought. He couldn't be sure.

Shepard snapping back to reality again saw Tali walking towards him, he smiled at her and she smiled back, she planted a kiss on his cheek and stood beside him, looking at their house.  
"What you thinking about" she asked  
"just remembering when we built this place" he replied with a smile on his face, she giggled  
"remember Grunt trying to smash that huge rock" she asked  
"didn't he end up placing a grenade next to it" he said  
"yep" replied Tali.  
Shepard smiled and walked back towards the house and went upstairs to change, he realized he was still wearing his bedclothes. After Shepard had come back they had breakfast, and walked to the Doctors to check up on Tali's blood suddenly changing colour. It turned out to be the pigment changing, otherwise she was fine. They went home and continued with their day, after watching a vid they went to bed.

Tali was sitting in a life pod, her head in her hands,  
"Tali, are ok?" asked Garrus, Tali pulled herself together  
"yeah I'm fine" she lied "just a little…"  
"Frightened" Garrus finished her sentence for her.

Tali was back, just after the first Normandy had been destroyed by the Collector's, all the other life pods had checked in, everyone except about twenty had sounded off, Joker and Shepard had yet to check in, Joker's voice came over the comm,  
"I'm here" he said,  
"what about Shepard?" asked Liara who was with Tali and Garrus plus three other crew members,  
"Shep…" Joker said his voice breaking, "Shepard didn't make it" he said,  
everyone looked shocked, Liara sat there looking confused, Garrus put his hands together, his fingers interlocking and raised them to his forehead. Tali sat there her head in her hands, she had lost the only man she loved, Keelah she hadn't even confessed her love to him, she had been thinking about it for the past few days but always managed to convince herself that it wasn't the right time.  
After the Alliance had sent rescue teams to pick them up she returned to the Migrant Fleet, after she left her shuttle, her father Rael'Zorah was waiting for her by the airlock, he hugged her, "I think I need some time to myself" she said, he nodded and boarded his shuttle back to his research vessel. She stood by a large window looking at the other ships, a former friend of hers walked right up to her shoving her finger in Tali's visor, Amina'Looge vas Lopar had been Tali's best friend up until a few months ago, Tali had told her about her feelings towards Shepard, Amina replied angrily saying that Shepard would never go for Tali and would go for her instead, Tali responded by saying she was on Shepard's crew, Amina didn't believe her at first, but after she a picture of Shepard with Tali standing behind him she grew jealous and hated Tali for it.  
As Tali backed off Amina started shouting  
"How dare you, you were there and did nothing to save him you selfish bosh'tet!" she shoved Tali who was now beginning to cry,  
Tali fell and just after she hit the ground Amina kicked her visor, Tali's vision was blurred and as it cleared she saw Amina brandish a knife,  
"I'm gonna cut your suit and watch you sneeze to death" Amina hissed at Tali,  
Kal'Reegar, one of Tali's childhood friends ran over and punched Amina full in the face, cracking her visor, Amina dropped her knife and fell over. Tali sat up, her head in her hands, crying. She felt like it was all her fault, maybe if she did something instead of running to the nearest life pod Shepard might be alive. Shepard was gone because of her.

Tali woke with a gasp, she was sweating heavily, she glanced to her right and in the moonlight she saw Shepard asleep, he was ok, Tali had these types of nightmares on a monthly basis, she put the sheets to her face and cried, she was sick of these dreams, each was so real, they weren't even dreams they were memories that no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't suppress them, she felt an arm around her shoulders, she looked up to see Shepard, her crying had woken him,  
"another dream?" he asked, she nodded slowly, tears running down her cheeks, he hugged her, it pained him to see her like this. Shepard would thrash about in his sleep, due to his experiences, when Tali woke him he had no memory of what he was dreaming about.

They had both been traumatized by the war. Shepard lay beside her comforting and hugging Tali until she fell asleep. He lay there staring at the ceiling, Tali would sometimes slip back into a nightmare after she fell back to sleep, after a half-hour had passed Shepard finally allowed himself to fall asleep.

The next morning Shepard awoke to find Tali half lying on him, her hand on his chest and her head on his shoulder, he gently slipped out from beneath her, she smiled slightly as he planted a kiss on her cheek. He went downstairs and started browsing the cupboards for breakfast, he couldn't decide so he sat on the couch and turned on the TV, morning news, Turian game show, what looked like an Asari-Human soap opera.

He turned the TV off and sighed,  
'nothing but shit' he thought. He went back upstairs, had a shower and dressed, when he went back down Tali had gotten up already and started cooking breakfast, bacon by the smell of it  
"where did you find the bacon?" he asked,  
"at the back of the freezer, underneath an ice-pack" Tali replied, Shepard didn't bother looking under most things, good thing he had Tali, otherwise he'd starve. He walked over to Tali and tilted her head towards his and gave her a long simple kiss, at the same time he reached over and grabbed the plate that had some fried bacon on it, he quickly pulled away from the kiss and quickly walked over to the sofa, Tali was confused for a second then saw Shepard with the plate piled with bacon then looked at the spot next to the stove and saw the plate missing,  
"hey…!" she said looking slightly grumpy,  
Shepard smirked with a mouthful of bacon. Tali pulled out a second plate and piled the rest of the bacon on to it. Tali bit off a piece of bacon, and went and sat next to Shepard,  
"Bacon is the best human invention ever" said Tali,  
"what about me" said Shepard smirking,  
"no, Bacon" teased Tali.  
Shepard rolled his eyes and glanced at the remote. As Tali finished her bacon, she looked around for something to wipe her greasy fingers on, she noticed Shepard was staring intently at the TV remote, his faced screwed up,  
"what are you doing" asked Tali,  
"seeing if I've developed biotic powers" answered Shepard,  
"I don't think you have" replied Tali,  
she got up and wiped her hands on a towel, Shepard gave up and picked up the remote, he wiped his hands on his jeans as he finished his bacon, Shepard had become very lazy after he left the Alliance, he still worked out enough to maintain his strong build though, Tali noticed he was wearing the shirt she had gotten him a few months before, whenever she bought Shepard clothes she always got shirts a size smaller, it made his impressive muscles stand out more, she had noticed that whenever he bought shirts for her they were always quite baggy, she came to the conclusion that the larger neck opening made her breasts slightly more visible, she walked back over and sat on the sofa turning herself sideways and leaned against him, she started playing games on her Omni-tool, Shepard watched some sport called football, occasionally laughing whenever someone tripped over, he didn't have a favorite team or actually liked football at all, he just watched it for people failing at things they're supposed to be good at.  
Tali liked it when Shepard laughed, he rarely laughed when he was captain of the Normandy. Tali stopped playing her game and summoned her drone, Chatika vas Rannoch, Tali had converted her from a combat drone into a pet drone, and Tali had downloaded a program that allowed her to alter Chatika's appearance, Tali was dressing Chatika in various hats, bow ties and colours. Tali realized Shepard had turned off the TV and had started watching Chatika as she repeatedly changed colour and outfit.  
He smiled and said "I had a dog when I was a kid".

Tali smiled  
"maybe we should get one" Chatika looked up at Tali,  
"don't worry girl, you'll always be my favorite" said Tali reassuring the drone.  
Chatika de-spawned, Shepard laughed  
"I think you upset her".  
Tali smiled, turning around sticking her legs out to the side, she made circles with her finger on Shepard's chest.  
"What do you want to do today?" Shepard asked,  
Tali glanced outside and saw it was overcast. She smiled and walked outside gesturing for Shepard to follow, rain on Rannoch was a rare occurrence, in all the time Shepard and Tali had lived on Rannoch it had not rained once, Shepard had barely felt rain, growing up on ships and serving on frigates gave him little time to spend time on planets.

Tali had experienced rain once before, on her pilgrimage, but because she had to wear her Environmental suit at the time, it ruined the experience, Tali and Shepard stood outside, it was surprisingly warm despite the cloud cover, a slight wind pushed Tali's hair to her left of her back, she stood in the middle of the garden looking up, Shepard stood beside her and they both looked up.

Tali heard a soft *plink* about a meter away from her she knelt down on the grass and saw a drop of water hanging from a blade of grass, she smiled. "Tali" Shepard said, as she looked at him he extended his hand, Tali did the same, a drop of water landed on her palm, she flinched at its impact she smiled as more and more droplets of water hit her skin, she giggled as one droplet went down the back of her shirt, she shivered, she looked at Shepard she could begin to see his skin through his shirt. She was glad he wore that particular shirt today.  
She looked up and opened her mouth, trying to catch droplets of water in her mouth to no avail, it began to rain harder, and the rain began to plaster her hair to her scalp, she glanced back at Shepard who was standing with his eyes closed, his head tilted up and a smile across his face, she went over to him and placed her hands on his chest moving up close to him he looked down and opened his eyes, he wiped away a drop of water that was hanging from her nose, he placed his hands on her back as they exchanged a long passionate kiss. They stood there for what felt like hours, having to breathe through their noses; Tali moved her hands around to Shepard's back and pulled him in closer to her. They pulled away, breathing deeply, staring into each other's eyes, nothing could ruin this moment.

Shepard woke up, he looked around the room for Tali then heard the shower, he sat up stretching, he glanced at the bed, it was a complete wreck, he untangled himself from the sheets and pulled on some fresh clothes, he then set about correcting the bed as best he could, two sheets were so tangled he pulled them off the bed and replaced them, placing the tangled sheets on the floor 'I'll deal with them later' he thought.  
He went downstairs and checked his mail, one from James confirming where to meet on the Citadel, one from Garrus saying he would be passing by Rannoch soon on a supply run and had invited himself to Shepard's. Shepard heard Tali coming down the stairs and walked over to her,  
"Garrus is coming over in two days" Shepard said  
"oh good, it'll be nice to see him again, is he bringing Jilana and Sari?" replied Tali  
"no, just him" answered Shepard  
"we also have to go catch up with James on the Citadel in five days"  
"Has he asked Ashley to marry him yet?" asked Tali  
"Don't think so" answered Shepard  
"He better do it soon, I can see Ashley is getting a little tired of being a just a girlfriend"  
"We aren't married and you have no problem with that" said Shepard  
"At least you asked me, the only reason why aren't married is because Auntie Raan and you mother couldn't agree on which species wedding traditions to use" Tali argued,  
"That's right, now we have to wait for one or both of them to drop dead" Shepard Joked.  
"Anyway, I figured that while we are on the Citadel we could stay for a while, I still have that apartment Anderson gave me" Shepard continued  
"Good idea, we haven't used that place in a while" Tali said.

Shepard was sitting on the couch when someone knocked on the door; Shepard stood up and opened it.  
"Shepard!" Garrus said as he walked forward to hug his old friend,  
"Garrus! You're a few hours early" Shepard said  
"Thought I might surprise you" Garrus replied  
"Where's Tali?"  
"Upstairs, I'll go get her" said Shepard as he walked towards the stairs, Garrus chuckled and looked around at the house. Shepard came downstairs followed by Tali,  
"Garrus! Great to see you again" Said Tali as she hugged Garrus,  
"Good to see you to Tali" Said Garrus,  
"How are Jilana and Sari?" asked Shepard as he and Tali sat down on the couch  
"They're doing great" Said Garrus as he sat down on the armchair across from Tali and Shepard.  
"Jilana got promoted to senior Executive of the Turian Embassy on the Citadel so we're moving there in a few weeks"  
"And Sari? How is she doing" asked Tali  
"She's doing great, getting good grades in school, turned six a few months ago"  
"oh yeah, sorry we couldn't make it" Said Shepard "Both Tali and I caught the flu"  
"Both of you? At the same time?" asked Garrus suspiciously  
"Whenever I get sick so does Tali, she never had the flu before so she got it pretty bad" said Shepard  
"And because of that experimental thing Tali and I are testing out she actually gets human sicknesses instead of having an allergic reaction like before"  
"at least then you can diagnose and treat it easier" Garrus said.

After a few hours had passed and a few beers had been downed Garrus and Shepard sat facing each other  
"You sure you're up for this Vakarian" said Shepard  
"Never been more sure in my life" Garrus replied.  
Shepard put his arm up on the coffee table, Garrus did the same. They grasped each other's hand  
"3, 2, 1, Go!" said Tali as Shepard and Garrus engaged in a tough arm wrestling match.  
Neither could move the others hand, it was a perfect stalemate, after several minutes of nothing, Garrus' arm began to waver and was slowly being pushed back by Shepard's, slowly but surely Shepard was pushing Garrus back, as Garrus' arm touched the table, Shepard leapt up in victory,  
"It's the five fingers, it has to be" said Garrus.

The next morning, Tali woke with a terrible hangover, she saw Shepard next to her, face down in a pillow,  
"Shepard" she whispered, and all she got was a groan.  
She got out of bed and went downstairs to find some Pain Killers 'Keelah, my head' she thought, she found some anti-migraine medicine, It would have to do. She took two pills and after a few minutes her headache began to clear, Shepard came downstairs,  
"Keelah you look like shit" Said Tali, Shepard flinched  
"ShhhhhHHHhhhhhHHhhhhShhhhShuuush" he whispered  
"Just don't talk so loud please, or… or walk to loud, or run too loud, or sniff to loud, you know what why doesn't everyone just think quiet thoughts" he said as he settle down into the armchair,  
Tali gave him a few of the Headache pills. After he took them, he kept his head buried in his arms. Tali smiled and went to make breakfast 'something quiet' she thought. She settled on cereal, she gave a bowl to Shepard and sat down across from him as she started on her own. After she finished her breakfast, she lay across the couch, closing her eyes she thought of the last time she had a hangover, it was the morning after Shepard's party in Anderson's old apartment on the Citadel, she smiled, remembering the aftermath of it all.

Tali woke, she must have drifted off, she had blanket over her, 'so sweet' she thought. She threw on some clothes, and went looking for Shepard, she found him in the basement, and he had pulled apart one of his old rifles, the M7 or M8. She through to the living room and started picking up all the empty alcohol bottles, one wasn't quite empty so she debated whether or not to drink it or throw it out, she decided to drink it and coughed, it had gone flat. She decided to go for a walk around town, as she left, she saw a Turian shaped dent in the garden, she laughed. As she wandered around town she decided to pick up some supplies, they left for the Citadel tomorrow. She waved at some of the neighbours; she saw a Geth and a Quarian lifting a large crate into a shuttle. She never thought she would see Quarians and Geth working together; she smiled at them, the Quarian smiled back and the Geth waved. After an hour Tali decided to head home.

She placed the supplies on the table and went upstairs to find Shepard packing their bags  
"we leave early tomorrow" he said  
"probably a good idea to have everything ready then" she said.  
Tali walked over to the wardrobe and pulled out her suit, she rarely wore it except on the Citadel and at formal occasions. She didn't take her visor; there was no point to it. She would still put her hood up though. She was the only Quarian in town that wore human clothes; she had to get specially designed boots and shoes considering her two large toed feet. She liked being able to move easily, the suits restricted them to almost human flexibility. She carefully placed it into a suitcase along with some extra clothes for wearing around the apartment.

Tali and Shepard stood at the transport station waiting for the shuttle that would take them to the station on orbit; from there a ship would take them to the Citadel, a shuttle pulled up and they got on along with a Quarian couple wearing suits and visors, a young male Quarian wearing a suit with no mask and a Geth. As the shuttle took off the young Quarian looked out the window and smiled,  
"are you on Pilgrimage?" Tali asked,  
the young Quarian spun around  
"yes" he replied nervously,  
"good luck" said Tali assuring him.  
The Geth looked at Shepard then at Tali  
"Shepard Commander, Creator Zorah" said the Geth, Shepard and Tali looked at the Geth,  
"Thank you" it said  
"for what?" asked Shepard  
"For giving the platform you call Legion a chance to free us from the Reapers control" it said,  
"No problem" said Shepard,  
"so you're the one who forged an alliance with those things" said the female Quarian across from Tali,  
"yea, so what" said Shepard  
"nothing" said the male Quarian across from Shepard angrily.  
The young Quarian turned around and started gazing out the window again. Tali scowled at the couple, most Quarians had learnt to get along with the Geth but there were still some who hated the Geth. When they got to the station Tali and Shepard walked across to the Citadel transport section. After they had boarded and had seated themselves, Shepard started talking to a human next to him and Tali looked around at their fellow passengers, she saw the young Quarian from the shuttle sitting a few seats away, she smiled remembering her pilgrimage, it was because of her pilgrimage she met Shepard and joined his crew. Ever since he had rescued her she was love struck, she had her hopes dashed when he was with Ashley that night before Ilos, but when she abandoned him on Horizon during their fight against the collectors, Tali had another chance, when she confessed her love for him and he said he felt the same way about her from the start, she felt her heart flutter, he said he was unsure of what she felt for him so he said nothing, maybe if she had said something earlier he would've survived the collector attack on the first Normandy.  
"Attention passengers we are now entering the Relay" said the ship's captain over the intercom, bringing Tali back from her thoughts.

After a few hours they arrived on the Citadel, they hailed a cab and went straight to their apartment, Tali dropped her bag by the door and collapsed on the sofa, civilian transport ships were so uncomfortable. Shepard sat down next to her and pulled her in close; he kissed the top of her head and checked his mail on his Omni-tool. Tali stood up and walked over to the kitchen and started browsing the cupboards, seeing what they had left from last time. After a nice dinner they went up to bed. Shepard lay in bed trying to sleep; he listened to Tali snoring softly beside him. Shepard stood up and walked over to the balcony, something was bothering him. He glanced outside, the room was spinning, he stumbled over to the stairs, and he began to go back to the moment after he killed the Illusive Man, he stumbled down the first few stairs then tripped, he fell down and lay at the bottom of the stairs, he heard Tali shout his name, he struggled to stay awake as he saw Tali run frantically down stairs and kneel beside him holding his head he stared into her eyes then everything went black.

He woke on a cold metal floor, he tried to stand up but a jolt of pain shot through his side. His Armour was cracked and scratched; he looked up to see a small child, only six or seven years old, walking towards him,  
"who are you?" he asked, the child was ghost-like,  
"I am the Catalyst" responded the child  
"I thought the Citadel was the Catalyst" said Shepard,  
"no the Citadel is part of me" said the Catalyst ,  
"Shepard… Shepard!" Shepard heard the voice distantly.  
"What" said Shepard, everything went dark and he was falling, he woke with a gasp,  
"Shepard" Tali said as she put her hands on either side of his head, he was on a stretcher being pushed into a shuttle,  
"Shepard stay with me" Tali said as she stared into his eyes, she looked incredibly panicked.  
He felt a sharp pain in his arm, he looked down and saw his left forearm, the bone was jutting out, and blood was gushing from the gaping hole the bone had made. A Turian doctor jabbed a needle into his other arm, everything began to darken again.

Tali sat by Shepard's bed, holding his hand, he had been in surgery for two hours. Tali slowly moved her thumb over his hand slowly. She felt his grip on hers tighten, she looked up at him, his eyes slowly opened, she smiled as his gaze met hers, he smiled back, and she leaned forward and kissed him, throwing her arms around him. He tried to do the same but his right arm refused to move, he saw it was in a cast. He winced at the pain; Tali pulled away from the kiss and ran her finger over his cheek. He stared into her eyes  
"what happened" he said  
"you fell down the stairs" she replied.  
"You had me so scared" she continued. A Salarian doctor came in,  
"Ah, you're awake" he said,  
"I've got good news, you can leave whenever you feel up to it, however you'll be in that cast for a few weeks". Shepard nodded and sat up,  
"I feel fine now" said Shepard,  
"You were lucky, if it wasn't for Miss Zorah here you would've bled out" said the Salarian. Shepard noticed her sleeve was ripped.  
"I made a tourniquet" she said sadly  
"we can arrange transport for you to go back home" said the Salarian.  
"Thanks" said Shepard.

Shepard entered the apartment and sat down on the couch, he glanced over at the bottom of the stairs, and there was a large pool of blood. Shepard sighed; Tali had gone to change out of her bedclothes. When she came down, she sat beside Shepard; he put his arm around her and pulled her in close.  
"I went back to that night, after I killed the Illusive Man" said Shepard  
"I didn't see much before I woke up" he continued.  
Tali buried her face in his shoulder;  
"Dammit" she said "why can't we just forget".  
Shepard failed to provide an answer.  
"Dammit… Dammit" she repeated as she began to cry into his shoulder,  
"hey… hey come here" he said pulling her closer and kissing her cheek.  
"We'll get through this" he said "Together".  
Tali nodded and sniffed, wiping her eyes.

The next day Tali and Shepard stood outside a bar waiting for James, Shepard had given up command of the Normandy to James.  
"Shepard!" said someone a few meters down the street,  
"James!" called Shepard back  
"What the hell did you do to yourself" said James gesturing to Shepard's arm,  
"Just fell down some stairs" said Shepard suppressing his frown,  
"good to see you to sparks" said James,  
"Hey James" said Tali smiling.  
The Three went inside and sat at a table and ordered drinks.  
"How's the Normandy" asked Shepard  
"Been better" replied James  
"What did you do" asked Shepard, a worried look on his face,  
"Well you're not there for one thing" said James,  
Shepard laughed  
"and umm… Cortez… Steve's dead"  
"What… how" said Tali  
"He tried to pull some fighters off me and the team" James said,  
"The thruster gave out and he… crashed" James said, sadly  
"There was nothing you could've done" Shepard said,  
James just nodded, Shepard raised his glass,  
"To Steve" he said, Tali and James did the same.  
"He was a good man" said Shepard.  
"Oh, Joker said to tell you, he and EDI are getting married" said James.  
"That's great" said Tali smiling  
"By the way have you popped the question to Ash yet?"  
"Nope" replied James.  
"C'mon James" said Shepard,  
"Hey you two aren't married" protested James,  
"At least Shepard asked me" said Tali,  
"Besides our families couldn't agree on which species traditions to use" Tali shot back.  
"Yeah… I was thinking of doing it soon" said James  
"I even got a ring" he said pulling out a small velvet box.  
"Do it soon, before Ash changes her mind about you" teased Tali.  
James' eyes widened, he excused himself and ran off.  
"Well I think we've got a wedding to go to soon" said Shepard.

After a few weeks had passed and Shepard's cast had come off, they returned to Rannoch. Shepard made Tali and him a cup of coffee and sat down on the couch by Tali, she was reading something on her Omni-tool, her face lit up,  
"Shepard" she said, Shepard looked at her,  
"I got a message from the Doctor in charge of the experiment" She said  
"And…" said Shepard  
"He says to start trying soon" she said in a naughty voice.  
Shepard smirked "Well… I know what we're doing tonight" he said as he put his arm around her pulling her close.  
Tali giggled, as she kissed him.

Shepard was downstairs finishing up on his computer. He went upstairs and saw Tali lying on the bed, "Care to join me" she asked teasingly.

Tali opened her eyes; Shepard's sleeping form was peaceful. She sat up 'Keelah that was amazing' she thought. She got out of bed and had a Shower. She pulled on a plain grey shirt and struggled to awkwardly push her legs into a pair of human Jeans,  
"Having trouble?" said Shepard, he had woken up and was now watching her,  
"Keelah, why can't they make Jeans suited to Quarian legs" replied Tali,  
"Because you're the only Quarian who wears human clothes" he replied.  
Tali went downstairs and started deciding what to have for breakfast. She looked through the fridge and found a pizza box with a few slices left.  
She mentally fist pumped and went over to the TV she turned it on and started Channel surfing. Shepard came down and sat next to her, as they ate their pizza Shepard talked to her about their future should the experiment have worked and Tali managed to get pregnant. They had a spare room for the baby and they had the time and credits to support one easily.

A few weeks later Tali came home from the doctors. Shepard was upstairs, but when he heard the door close he raced downstairs,  
"Shepard…" Tali said "I'm pregnant"


End file.
